All That Matters
by Natsyourlord
Summary: After merging with Sora and Kairi, Roxas and Namine had to go somewhere. Where? To the place where all Nobodies end up. Not quite Heaven, not quite Hell. SPOILERS! NamineRoxas all the way! Some OOCness...
1. Where are we?

My first attempt at a NaminexRoxas fic. So don't kill me, alright? I just think they go _so well _together, and... I wanted to write something about them. Especially since I just beat KH2, and I wanted to write what I thought ought to happen to them. You know, other than merging with Sora and Kairi. So... here it is.

**Chapter I**

I'll admit it, I was a little scared.

I mean, here I was, a Nobody, an empty shell, and I was about to merge with my original. I had absolutely no idea what would happen to me. would I... cease to exist? Just like that? Then again, Roxas had been merged with Sora, and he still existed. So I took a deep breath and stepped foreward.

There was a brilliant flash of light... then nothingness.

Suddenly I was falling. Just like that. It was like an infinite dark void had swallowed me whole, pushing in from all sides. The darkness was suffocating me... wait. There was light up ahead. Not a very bright light, but a light, all the same.

I continued to fall, but I rightened myself, preparing for the landing. Unfortunately, my bright-blue, strap-on shoes were not the best for making a hard landing, and I crumpled on impact, hearing a sickening _krak_. I could feel a searing hot pain in my left ankle, and I think I screamed. Slowly I crawled towards the light. Every movement I made sent a flash of pain through my leg and burned my ankle, but I kept crawling.

Once I reached the light, I saw that it was really an incredibly bright glyph in the shape of a Nobody symbol that shone with burning intensity. I stumbled to my feet, trying not to put much weight on my left leg. Cautiously, I reached out and grazed the glyph with my fingertips. At first nothing happened, and I slumped down to the ground.

Without warning, the glyph flashed three different colors: violet, aqua, and bright blue. Then it seemed to shatter, and a torrrent of energy flowed from the place where it had been. I was swept along in the current of energy. It felt cold, and at the same time seemed to bathe my body in warmth. It flowed on and on, leading to nowhere. I felt like I was swimming in a violent, rising river. But no matter how hard I tried to keep my head up, it seemed to be sucking me down. I didn't have any strength left, and my ankle hurt worse than ever. So I gave in, and let the current pull me under.

And then I drifted into unconsciousness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_"Sora! Riku!" a girl - Kairi? - called from the shore of a strangely familiar island. I couldn't see the girl's face, but it sounded like Kairi._

_Sora and Riku, who I could see, were out in the ocean. Both of them began swimming eagerly towards the shore. When they had almost gotten there, three familiar figures brushed past me. I recognized them as King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Donald and Goofy hugged Sora, knocking him over, and the King ran up to Riku, who swung him around in the air before hugging him._

_Kairi's face suddenly became clear. She smiled at Sora, happily laughing. Sora grinned back. Then Kairi's face changed, revealing... my own. I saw a flash of red light, and then I was looking at Sora, through Kairi's eyes. Only he wasn't Sora anymore, he was Roxas. Roxas grinned at me, then changed back into Sora. I saw another flash of light, only it was bright green this time. Then... blackness._

_I felt as though something had latched itself onto my hand. Everything was dark... so dark..._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I sat up with a jolt. The first thing I noticed was that it was night. Well, not really night. A few rays of pinkish sunlight peeked shyly over the horizon of a shimmering, deep blue ocean. I was sitting on a sandy white beach, which was completely deserted except for myself. The next thing I saw was that a hand was entwined with my own. That hand belonged to-

"Roxas?"

As if in slow motion, Roxas rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked at me, and grinned sleepily.

"That's right," he said, more to himself than to me. "You've merged with Kairi, so..."

"So... what?" I was confused. Where was I? And how did Roxas end up next to me?

"So, you've come here. This is where nobodies go when they die. Since we're the only two Nobodies to ever merge with their originals, we end up here, also."

"But... Roxas... I don't get it."

He laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh, it was more of a happy laugh. "Neither did I, at first. You'll understand eventually. But basically, what goes on here is that we keep on living. Only, here we're not really nobodies. We're _sombodies._ We have hearts, and we can feel." He looked around, then his eyes locked onto my left ankle. "Namine... what happened to your ankle?"

I had forgotten my ankle, and as soon as I remembered it, searing pain shot through my leg. It felt like it was on fire. "I... think... I broke it." I said between gasps of pain. Looking down at it, I saw that it had swollen and was now a blackish-blue color.

"Geez, Namine. We need you to get some medical attention. When did this happen?" He grasped my hand in both of his and looked straight into my eyes. And I saw something I had never seen in his eyes before.

Worry. Caring. Anxiety.

_Emotion. _He was right. We could feel. I could feel. I had a heart of my own. Not Kairi's... mine.

"When I... merged with... Kairi... I fell through... darkness... and when I landed..." I tried to get to my feet, but my leg simply wouldn't support me this time. I collapsed on the sand next to Roxas.

"Namine!" he cried, picking me up bridal-style. "Come on, we're going to the hospital to get this treated."

"There's... a hospital here?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, running along the beach. With every step he took another jolt of pain raced through my leg, but I didn't want him to worry any more. "This isn't heaven, where everything's perfect. People can die here, and then they're either passed into heaven or hell, depending on their behavior. That means people can get injured and sick. They need a hospital to help those people."

"Oh..." I murmured. I clutched his white jacket when there was a sudden, horrible jolt. The pain shooting through my ankle was... so much worse now. "Roxas... it hurts." I whimpered.

"I know, Namine. Hang in there. We're almost there." he said soothingly, then quickened his pace.

I heard the sound of his footsteps change. Instead of being a soft _thump, thump, thump _on the sand, it sounded like the pounding of rubber soles on cement. We appeared to be in a small seaside town. Not on an island, we were more like on a peninsula. The ocean was soothing, the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore in the distance washing through my brain.

Eventually Roxas came to a white building marked EMERGENCY and carried me inside to a crowded waiting room. He carefully sat me down on a chair and ran up to the front desk. I stared down at my ankle. It looked fascinating in the fluorescent light, swirling blues and purples and yellows, all mixed together in a torrent of different colors. I studied it for a few minutes before Roxas came over and sat next to me.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to me. "We're gonna be here for a while. Is there anything I can do for you while we wait?"

I managed a strained smile. "No, thanks... I'm just... glad you're with me. And I want you to stay with me. That's all."

Roxas smiled. "Your wish is my command," he said quietly, lacing his fingers with mine.

I didn't care about my injury. Roxas and I were together.

That was all that mattered.

* * *

Haha! I did it! Aw, RITE! Now, I want you to please press that little purple button down there, that one that says "go", and type in your honest-to-god opinion about this.

-Natsyourlord

PS: If you're a Campfire Geeks fan and are reading this, YES I am working on Campfire Geeks 2, but I specifically said it wasn't coming out 'till November. So enjoy this one while you're waiting, and stop sending me violent fan mail!


	2. Axel's Appearance

Alrighty. Here's an explanation for all of you who are unfamiliar with my work, or were lost last chapter, which, in my opinion, **I could have done better on! **Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid...

Where they are is sort of like my idea of heaven. Only you can't die in heaven. But that's pretty much the only difference. They're living in a place similar to where Sora and Kairi are, but it's enhanced in a way. Since Nobodies are the other half of a person's heart, this is like... the other half of everyone's hearts, mixed together to create a whole new world. And when Sora or Kairi are experiencing something that causes them to have a lot of emotion, Namine and/or Roxas will sort of leave their bodies and see everything that's happening to Sora/Kairi/both.

Also, I'm going to be switching the chapters back and forth, from Namine's point of view to Roxas's. Like... How many of you have read the book Flipped? If you have, you know how it switches back and forth from Bryce's point of view to Julianna's? That's sort of what this is like, only it doesn't tell both sides of everything. You'll understand what I mean in a moment.

**_Important if you've never heard of me!_** Normally I write randomness, so this is a big change for me. Please try to be supportive 'till chapter 5. Then you can flame me like hell.

**Chapter II**

I was really worried. For the first time in my life, I had emotion in my heart.

And it felt good.

Not the fact that Namine was injured, of course. That part was bad, very bad. But still...

"Namine?" called a doctor from a thick wooden door, after about two hours of waiting. Namine winced as she tried to stand up. I quickly grabbed her to prevent her from falling, and helped her to the door.

"Ouch. I'm nearly positive that's broken." said the doctor, looking at Namine's ankle. "Still, were going to take an X-ray to see where the injury is. Then we'll patch you up, okay? Oh, and I'm Dr. Haxirme."(AN: an anagram for Meriah, a name I made up off the top of my head, with an "x" thrown in.) Dr. Haxirme smiled sympathetically at Namine. "Excuse me, sir, but I'll have to borrow your girlfriend for a moment."

"Hey, we're not together!" Namine and I shouted at the same time. I felt my face getting hot, though, and Dr. Haxirme simply rolled her eyes. "Okay. So you're not together. Can I borrow Namine for a second? You can wait in there." she pointed to a small room across the hall. I hesitated, but walked in and sat down on a hard wooden chair.

I drummed my fingers on my knee, then stood up, then paced around, then sat down again. I just couldn't sit still. Only two or three minutes had passed, but it felt like twenty or thirty. How bad was it? Would Namine be alright?

Finally, after what felt like several hours, Namine and Dr. Haxirme came back. Namine was in a wheelchair.

"Well, sir-"

"My name is Roxas. I don't really like being called sir, if you don't mind." I said.

"Okay, then, Roxas, Namine's ankle is indeed broken. I'll have to set a cast on it, of course, and she'll be on crutches. But she got lucky. She'll only be wearing it for about four weeks. If it was a really bad break, it could be ten. So she's pretty lucky."

Namine smiled at me. I smiled back, glad to know that she was alright. While Dr. Haxirme was setting a snow-white cast around Namine's ankle, I stood by and watched. Once she was done, she gave Namine a pair of crutches and told us the bill would come in the mail. We left the hospital, and headed downtown.

"Hey, Roxas?" she said suddenly as we were walking along the sidewalk. "Do you live somewhere?"

I was surprised. "Of course I do. I live here."

"No, I mean... well, where do you _live _live. As in, do you have a house or apartment or something?" she asked curiously. I shrugged.

"I live in an apartment. I've stayed there ever since I merged with Sora. Why?"

"Well..." her face flushed red. "Do you... mind if I stay with you? Just for a little while, until I find a place of my own." Her face flushed deeper, her soft blue eyes downcast. I looked at her for a second, then replied,

"Sure you can! What did you think I was gonna just leave you out here all alone? In fact, I _insist _you stay with me until your ankle is completely healed." I said the last sentence in a British accent. Namine giggled, and smiled at me. I grinned back, thinking of how pretty she looked. The ocean breeze blew her hair back, the sun seeming like it was lighting up her whole face. Her eyes twinkled with laughter, and... whoa. Wait a second. Back up. I wasn't thinking clearly. Namine... she was my friend. That was all. I couldn't start liking her now... because if she found out, and didn't like me back, things would never be the same.

"Roxas?" Namine waved a hand in front of my face. I snapped back to reality and shook my head vigorously to clear my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You... sort of spaced out for a second. Are you alright?" she asked. I forced a smile.

"Yeah. I'm good. I mean... I'm okay. Yeah. I'm okay." I stuck my hands in my pockets and walked ahead a little. Namine stared at me for a minute, then began swinging her crutches faster to catch up to me. I began looking around for the street that my apartment building was on.

Eventually I saw it; a white, four-story apartment building with a small garden in the front and several mahogany doors with brass handles. Grayish black shingles covered the roof, and most of the upper-story apartments had small porches.

"Wow... this place is so beautiful..." breathed Namine, gazing at the building. "And you live here?"

"Yeah." I said, walking up to the door. "This used to be an old mansion, but they did some renovations on the place. Since most people around here want their lives as somebodies to be as luxurious as possible, not a lot of them live in old apartment buildings. So the rent's not that bad."

"Makes sense to me." Namine replied, walking up to the door. I followed. We walked down the hall to the elevator in an awkward silence. I think it had to do with the fact that, for almost a month, Namine would be _living _with me. The thought scared me.

I pressed the button marked "3" on the wall panel, and the doors began to close. Just before they did, though, I caught a glimpse of someone with red spiky hair charging towards me, yelling, "STOOOOOOP!" I jammed my thumb on the "door open" button and the doors jolted before sliding apart. The person walked into the elevator, and said, "Thanks, Roxas."

I just stared. "A-Axel?" I stuttered, not believing it was him. But it was, though instead of his Organization XIII robe, he wore a black-and-white T-shirt and dark blue jeans, along with black, fingerless gloves and a gray jacket. He looked at me and grinned, pressing the "2" button while he was at it.

"What, you don't want me here? I feel so unloved..." he said mockingly, putting on a fake pout. "You've become really cold, Roxas."

I continued to gape. I wanted to ask what had happened to him, but the answer was obvious. He had died.

"You... how did you die?"

He shrugged. "Protecting Sora, because protecting Sora was like protecting you. Got it memorized?" The doors opened, and he stepped out. "I was looking for the best apartment building in town. This is it. Looks like we're neighbors now, eh?" He smirked, and walked away as the elevator doors slid shut.

I stayed silent until we got to my apartment, turning things over in my mind. Axel was dead, but he'd turned up here, in this world. Slowly it dawned on me. Axel was my neighbor.

My life was about to become _hell._

"Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man, oh, man." I muttered under my breath. Namine seemed to be saying something, but I didn't hear.

"Roxas, are you there? Earth to Roxas, Do you read? Over." she snapped her fingers in front of my face. I shook my head to lear my thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You seem to have been spacing out a lot."

"No, I'm... fine. At least for the moment. What were you saying?"

"Don't you have a key or something?" She yawned. "I'm kinda tired."

I fumbled around in my pocket for my key. I pulled it out and unlocked the door. My apartment's kind of small, but it's good for me. At least, there's a place to sleep, place to eat, and place to... take care of business. All in all, I think it's pretty good. But we had a slight problem.

"Where am I going to sleep?" asked Namine, yawning again. I didn't blame her. It was her first time going through to this world, and she'd beed through a lot.

"You can sleep on my bed, if you want. I'll crash on the floor. I don't really mind." I said, walking to the small kitchen. Suddenly I felt a really weird feeling in my head, and I collapsed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_"Hey, Riku, what do you think it was, the Door to Light?" someone asked. I couldn't see their face, but it sounded like Sora, and I suspected it was._

_"This." Riku replied, as he pointed to Sora's chest._

_"This?"_

_"It's always closer than you think." Sora's face became clear to me again. Looking down at my hands, they appeared to be transparent._

_Suddenly a voice called out, "Sora! Riku!" Sora and Riku looked up to see Kairi running down to them, holding something that glinted in her hand._

_"Hey, Kairi, what's up?" Sora asked. Leaning over and panting, Kairi held up the object she was carrying._

_It was a bottle, and inside the bottle there was a piece of paper with the King's seal on it._

_"The King?" Sora took the bottle from Kairi and pulled out the cork. Unrolling the paper, the three friends began to read it._

_I tried to lean over and read it, too, but the words on the paper were blurred, and I couldn't read them._

_FLASH!_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I slowly came to my senses. I was lying on my bed, that I knew, but I didn't know what the soft, remotely light thing lying on top of me. I opened my eyes, and at first was sort of confused. What could a head of smooth blond hair be doing on me?

But as the gears in my brain began to turn again, I realized that it wasn't just a head of hair. The head was attached to a body, and the body belonged to someone I knew all too well.

"Namine!" I yelled, jerking up. The sound of her name must have been enough to wake her, because she jumped, and then screamed a little when she realized what position she'd been in. We stared at each other for a few seconds. Her big blue eyes, bright a sapphires, were wide with shock. Eventually, I muttered, "Sorry..." and rubbed the back of my neck. My face felt hot, and Namine's cheeks were a bright pink. She slowly climbed off the bed, not saying anything.

"Namine?"

She was quiet for a few more seconds, then said, "Roxas, I think something's going on with Kairi. When I fell down, I was sort of... taken back to Destiny Islands. Kairi found a note, and she brought it to Sora and Riku. But... I couldn't see what it said."

"You, too?" I asked, bewildred. "'Cause I saw something almost exactly like that."

She thought for a moment. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know..."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

YAAY! All done! Was that one any better? I'm sorry, I'm new to wirting serious. Also, how many of you can guess what's going to happen soon? (Hint: Axel's appearance is a clue!) Okay, letting you guys guess! USE YOUR BRAINS!

-Natsyourlord knows you know she knows you know the answer, deep inside your inside.


	3. The Kiss

Okay, people. Here's the thing: We left for summer camp a little while back (if you go there... ILC U THERE! Haha... I must be insane) and then I had school. So I'm sorry for the long update. Enjoy!

I forgot to put in a disclaimer, so here it is now.

**Disclaimer:** Now, if I owned Kingdom Hearts, don't you think that I would design the game so that Larxene steals Marly's scythe and goes on a killing spree? Yeah, I thought so.

**Chapter III**

It was late afternoon when I woke up again. See, after we discussed the weird visions from Destiny Islands, we came to the conclusion that this must be what was happening to Sora, Riku, and Kairi right now. Why we got these visions, we still didn't know. Maybe it had something to do with us being the only two nobodies to be complete. But, anyway...

When I woke up, the evening-orange sun was shining through Roxas's bedroom window, glaring into my eyes. I squinted in the bright light as I rose from the pillow, and then opened my eyes fully. I glanced at the clock by his bed. 6:43 PM. So I had been asleep for about three hours. Wow.

I crawled off the bed and grabbed my crutches from the wall. "Roxas?" I called. No answer. "Roxas, I'm awake." Still nothing.

Something was making me feel kind of uneasy. "Come on, Roxas, this isn't funny." I took another step towards the doorway, feeling preety scared now. Was Roxas even here? Did he leave? Or was he lying in some room, badly injured and unable to answer me?

"Roxas!" I yelled, taking a few more steps to the door. "I'm serious! If you can answer me, _do it!_" My whole body was trembling now. I was really scared now. If anything had happened to him, I'd-

"Boo!" he yelled, jumping out from behind the doorframe. I stared at him, shocked and angry. My face must have been pretty funny, because the next thing I knew he was rolling around on the white carpet, laughing his head off. "Ha ha... you, you... haha!" he laughed.

I had recovered from the shock by now, and was just plain angry. "Roxas, you idiot!" I yelled at him. "That was _not_ funny, it was the farthest thing in the world from funny, especially since-" I stopped. He stood up, still chuckling, and looked at me curiously. "What? Especially since what?" he asked.

I didn't answer right away. The impact of what I had unconsciously realized was still scary. "Because... Because Axel's back, because he died. And so that means..."

A look of horror slowly dawned on his face as he realized what had happened, what was _going _to happen. "That means that all the members of Organization XIII will come back." he finished for me. "And if they caused that much havoc when they were nobodies, just think of what they'll do now that they're _sombodies."_

"And Sora and Donald and Goofy aren't here to fight them anymore. That means..." I murmured.

"_It's up to us."_ we said simutaneously.

Instantly I felt a huge wave of exahustion sweep over me. It was as if I hadn't slept in days. I felt myself crumple to the floor, and my last thought before I completely blacked out was, _Oh, no, not again!_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_"Kairi... I have to go. It's the only way." I heard someone say. The voice sounded awfully familiar, almost like... Sora! Somehow I felt really, really sad. Sora wasn't talking to me, though, he was talking to someone slightly shorter than him... a girl. I couldn't see her face, but I figured that it was Kairi, because A. Sora had said "Kairi" and B. Kairi seemed to be the only one whose face I could never see._

_"Sora... I... I can't let you go. Not again. Last time... you were gone for... two whole years. What if... this time... you're gone even longer?" Kairi said in between sobs. Sora wrapped his arms around her in a protective hug. "Don't worry. I promise I'll come back, as soon as I can. That's a promise, and I'm gonna keep it."_

_"Do...you really... mean that?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Then I saw something... amazing. Something that I thought I'd never see... and I loved it. Sora looked up for a minute, and stared straight at me, almost like he could see me. Then he winked, pulled Kairi's face up to his, and..._

_A split second before he did what I knew he was going to, I saw a red flash of light, then found my own lips pressed against..._

_Roxas's?_

_My eyes widened in shock. I tried to pull away, and I could see that he was, too. But it was like I had grown immoble. Thinking hard - and trying not to think about who, exactly, I was kissing - about what must be happening. Why couldn't I move?_

_That's when it dawned on me. Sora and Kairi were the ones kissing. Roxas and I weren't doing anything. It was all them. We were trapped in their bodies - sort of - and they had kissed. This was forced. Roxas and I weren't actually kissing. Yeah. We were just friends._

_But... then why did this feel so right? I knew that Sora and Kairi were the ones who were actually kissing - that was definite. Yet, somehow, even though we hadn't done it, even though I was really feeling like this wasn't something I wanted to do..._

_I didn't want it to end._

_There was a sudden flash of green light. Then I saw total, complete darkness... and felt like I was falling. I was falling. I felt something latch onto my hand..._

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Ow!" I yelled. It felt like I had just been thrown back onto something...soft. Like sand. I sat up and looked around. It _was_ sand. The beach? Why was I back here?

"What the..." I heard a voice next to me mutter in confusion. "Is... but... we were..." He sat bolt upright, and began to stutter incoherently. "B-but - you were... and I was - I mean, the apartment... and then - and then Sora, and, and Kairi, and..." His voice faded away, and his face turned a deep, deep red. I felt my own cheeks getting red, and unconsciously reached up to my lips. I could still remember how... soft... his lips had felt... against mine...

"Um..." he began, and I quickly jerked my hand down and snapped back to reality. "Um... what?" I asked. my face felt really, really warm now. Like there was a fire lit underneath it. Awkward... awkward...

"Um... what was all that?" he asked. "Something's going on with Sora and Kairi... but what is it?"

"I don't know. But... it sounded like Sora has to go away again. Maybe there's another problem with the-"

"Heartless!"

"Huh?"

Roxas grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. It was then that I noticed the black shapes coming in from the ocean. There were at least fifty of them, all coming in swarms. They crawled onto the sand and rose up out of the ground, ready to fight. Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and held them ready.

"Namine, I want you to get away from here." he told me, swinging Oblivion at the first Heartless to come within his range.

"But...Roxas -"

"GO!" he yelled, now surrounded by the black creatures. "In fact, get Axel. Find him, okay?"

"O-Okay," stuttered, and turned and began running to Roxas's apartment building, praying that Axel would be there.

Suddenly I realized something - _I was running._ But, this had to be impossibe. I had a broken ankle. I couldn't run. Glancing down, I saw that my ankle was bare. As in, no cast. And I didn't feel any pain, either.

Was this some sort of... magic?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thank ye! Thank ye very much! So, turns out that the Organization is back! And Namine and Roxas had their (sort of) first kiss! Hey... why arewn't you people _Aww_ing?I command you to _Aww!_ DO IT! Ah... very good. Just for that I will give you the next chapter whenever I happen to get it done! HURRAY!

-Natsyourlord is crazy, in case you haven't figured it out by now.


	4. Roxas's Heart

I have finally defcided to post this, and it would have come a lot later, but I did this real quick when I was supposed to be organizing my tech binder for Mrs. L&$, my tech teacher. Anyway...

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Unh!" I grunted as yet another Heartless met its end by Oathkeeper. This was a lot of Heartless. Almost _too _many.

I was also really scared. Namine had gotten away, I knew, but for all I knew the Heartless were showing up all over the town. What if she got attacked?

Thinking of this possibility, I was temporarily distracted, and didn't notice the Heartless creeping up behind me. Suddenly it pounced, along with all the others. I was knocked down and couldn't see anything but blackness. Blackness and the swirling dots of yellow that were the Heartless's eyes.

I felt a new emotion seeping throughout my body. It was... different... from anything that I had experienced before. It hurt and seemed to stab me with needles wherever it touched. The place it was worst, though, was my heart. It seemed to rip it open and fill the inside with shadows. I wanted to say it was fear, but this was too exterme for fear.

Then I realized it for what it was.

Hopelessness.

I was hopeless, and I knew it. And that made the pain in my heart even worse.

It was like being swallowed by the darkness all over again... infinite darkness...

My memories were slipping away... one by one, I was forgetting everything...

Then something happened to change some of that darkness into a light. Like a light shining through the shadows of Heartless.

"Roxas!" came a voice. It was familiar, but I couldn't remember whose it was. I knew that it was something good, though.

"Roxas, get up!" came another, rougher voice. The swirling black-and-yellow surrounding me flashed away, and I saw a tall man - teenager? - standing above me. He had red spiky hair, green eyes, and was holding twin chakrams that spun in a circle of flame.

Why did this seem so familiar?

"Who..." I began, but couldn't finish. My tongue felt heavy and dry in my mouth. This guy was so, so familiar to me...

My thoughts were interrupted when another person jumped on top of me and held me in a tight embrace. "Roxas! Oh, my god, when we came back, we saw the Heartless attacking you, and I thought you were a goner!" The girl began to cry. "Roxas... don't you... EVER... do that again!" As if to emphasize this, she punched me lightly on the shoulder.

Roxas...

Was I... Roxas?

The girl pulled away and looked at me. Her eyes were gorgeous, an ocean blue color that shone in the moonlight. They looked at me questioningly. "Roxas? Why won't you say anything?"

"It's because of the darkness," said the spiky-haired teenager. "It makes him feel hopeless. Then it sucks away his memories. And finally, it turns him into a Heartless. So we were lucky, Namine. We were really lucky."

_Namine..._

Why did that name sound so familiar... and so beautiful?

_Namine..._

"You're... Namine?" I asked, looking at the girl. Her face lit up.

"Axel! He remembered! He remembered my name!" she cried, beaming. "He really remembered!"

"Yeah... said the boy, grinning. Suddenly he knelt down beside me and said with a smirk, "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Unn..." I muttered. This was a lot...

**FLASH!**

**_"...Sure you can! What, did you think I was gonna just leave you out here all alone? In fact, I _insist** **_that you stay with me until your ankle is completely healed!"_**

_**Giggling.**_

**_Thought... _She's... so pretty. The ocean breeze blowing her hair back, the sun lighting up her whole face, eyes twinkling with laughter...**

**FLASH!**

I stared at Namine. Did I... like this girl? Why couldn't I remember anything? This was all so weird. So confusing.

"Namine..." I muttered.

She looked at me. "Yeah?"

But I barely heard her. My thoughts were a million miles away.

"Xemnas... Xigbar... Xaldin... Vexen..."

"Roxas, what are you...?"

"Lexaeus... Zexion... Saix... Axel..." with the last one I glanced at Axel questioningly.

"Go on," he said, smiling slightly. "Let's see how much you can remember."

"Demyx... Luxord... Marluxia... Larxene..."

I took a deep breath, and continued.

"Roxas..."

He and Namine both smiled.

"and..."

Their smiles vanished and were replaced with confusion.

"the Memory Witch... Namine."

Namine flung her arms around me again. "You're remembering! You're actually remembering!"

I smiled. I was remembering more of it. Almost all of it. Except...

The strange boy. He appeared in my thoughts, popping up constantly, yelling at me to remember...

Remember what? Him? Did I know him somehow?

My head felt light. Suddenly I couldn't keep my eyes open...

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"_The... Keyblade War?"_

_The black mouse nodded. "When the Keyblades were first created, the creators argued over whose was strongest. They developed their own armies, made of parts of their own hearts, to fight each other. Each of the armies possesed a unique Keyblade."_

"_But then, what does something that happened hundreds of years ago have anything to do with now?"_

"_Well, Sora... I have reason to believe that the Keyblade War was never finished. The Creators of the Keyblade eventually died, and along with them their armies. However, they were reborn, and the three Keyblades along with them. Sora, your Keyblade's creator was pure of heart, and so his Keyblade - the Keyblade of the Realm of Light - is now yours. My Keyblade, the Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness, is mine. And Riku's, the Keyblade of the Realm In-Between, is his."_

"_Your Majesty... you said that the Keyblade users were... _reborn._ Does that mean..."_

"_Yes, Sora. You are the reincarnation of the Keyblade's original Creator. His name was Joukuu, which means "Sky"._

"_Like.. my name?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then... what about the others?_

"_The creator of mine was called Kuragari."_

"_Darkness."_

"_Correct. And Riku's... the creator of the Keyblade of the Realm In-Between..."_

"_What about it, Your Majesty?"_

"_His name... was Xenahort."_

"_XENAHORT?"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Xenahort..." I muttered.

Finally, the memory of the boy came back to me. He was Sora... my other...

"Roxas?"

"Namine..." I murmured, getting up. I looked at her, then at Axel. "The Keyblade War."

"The Keyblade WHAT?" asked Axel.

"Keyblade War. That's why there were Heartless. Because of the Keyblade War."

"Roxas, the Keyblade War happened 600 years ago." said Namine cautiously.

I shook my head. "No. It's going to happen again."

"Again? But, Roxas, the Keyblade War is -"

"And... about Riku..."

"What about him?"

"He's the reincarnation of Xenahort."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Dun Dun Dun... Yes, peeps, I know that Xenahort is a Heartless, but think - Sora's probably killed him by now, right? Right.

TO ZE SUITE LIFE!

-Natsyourlord


	5. He's Gone

CHAPTER 5!

Hey, you guys wanna know something funny? When I wrote the last chapter, I had _no idea_ what happened to people when they become Heartless. I swear, I didn't, because I have never played Kingdom Hearts One! (puts in earplugs and counts down from 3 while waiting for this info to sink in.) Fans: WHAT!

Anyway, the funny thing is, even though I never played it or knew what happened, I got it mostly right anyway! Maybe I should go work for Square Enix when I grow up...

ON WITH ZE STORY!

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"He's the reincarnation of Xenahort."

I stared at Roxas, unable to believe my ears. "_What?"_

"He's the reincarnation of Xenahort," he said again. "That's why he was so easy for Xemnas to control."

I shook my head. "That's... that's ridiculous."

Axel smirked. "I think you're delirious, man."

Roxas looked at me urgently. "I swear, I saw it, just now. King Mickey was talking to Sora about the Keyblade War, about how it's going to happen again. I'm not delirious, and it's not ridiculous. It's true!"

I was quiet for a moment, pondering this. Then I whispered, "I believe you, Roxas. If you say you saw it, then you did."

Axel smirked again and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go learn moreaboutthisseeya!" he said the last part incredibly fast, then ran off into town.

Finally Roxas stood up, and I did too. We looked at each other for a second. Then-

"You don't believe me."

"Yes I do, Roxas! I completely believe you. Really."

He glared at me. "No you don't. You just said that to make me feel better, and I know it."

"No, I didn't!" I said. "I said it because I _do_ believe you, and also because it's a really good explanation of what's been happening to Sora and Kairi, wherever they are."

"Oh, yeah?" He was getting angry. It was stupid of him to even be angry, but he was. "Why do you believe me? Or should I say, why are you _saying_ that you believe me?"

"Because..." I took a deep breath. "Because I think I know you better than that. And because I've been getting those weird visions myself, remember?"

He shrugged angrily and turned away from me. "So you say. But then, why didn't _you _see what I saw?"

"Well..." I thought a moment. "Did you see Kairi there?"

"No."

"There's your answer. I'm Kairi's Nobody, and you're Sora's Nobody. You'll see what Sora sees, and I'll see what Kairi sees."

Roxas sighed. He didn't turn around, but instead walked to the edge of the water and promptly sat down. I followed silently.

"I'm sorry." he muttered, gazing out at the water. "It's just... all this is happening too fast. I'm confused and angry and... urgh!" He punched the sand, creating a small indention. "I wanna know what's going on. What's _really_ going on. What with Organization XIII, and the Keyblade War, and... everything. I wanna see it, hear it, be part of it. But I can't, because I'm a... a Nobody. I'm stuck here, but I want to go to those other worlds. Not go to them through Sora's memories, go through them on my own, fight with whoever I want to fight with, and do what I want to do. Not Sora. Me."

"So do I." I said softly, sitting beside him. "But we can't, not now, not today. Someday we will, I promise. But as for right now, we have to make the best of the situation. No matter how bad things might look."

Roxas looked at me. He smiled slightly, then turned back to the waves. "Thanks."

"No problem."

I felt something touch my hand. Startled, I almost brushed it away, but then I realized it was another hand.

Roxas's.

I couldn't help smiling as his fingers interlaced with mine. I gazed across the water, at the beautiful orange sunset and the sparkling dark blue ocean, and tried to imprint this in my memory so that I could treasure the moment of temporary peace forever.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

Roxas pressed the button marked "3" on the panel beside the closing doors. He sighed, and leaned back against the wall of the elevator.

I stood on the other side, thinking. About the Heartless, being a Nobody, the Keyblade, and everything that had happened to us. The silence was deafening, but I didn't hear it. I was too absorbed in my thoughts.

The doors slid open again, and we walked out without making a sound. I could see Roxas's apartment door when everything began to run together. I felt incredibly tired, and crumpled to the floor. But something was strange about this time. Right before I hit the ground, I felt a strange tugging sensation, and then I was _lifted straight out of my body!_

I screamed. Suddenly I was falling. Inside of this black void of darkness. It was just like before, when I merged with Kairi! I realized that I was going to land again, so I righted myself. But instead of landing, I hit something that felt like water. And now I was sinking. Sinking fast. Then-

"Oomph!"

I hit something - a mattress? - hard. I sat up and looked around. The room I was in was a purple-pink color. There was a white desk, cabinet, and door that was slightly ajar. The room was dark, but I could make out someone sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at me. Her face was tear-streaked, but her eyes were wide with shock.

"Namine?"

I gasped. "Kairi!" So I was back on Destiny Islands. But how did _I_ wind up _here_?

"Namine, how did you get here? I thought you merged with me."

"So did I! I mean, I was, but then all of a sudden I was - I don't know, flying - and then I ended up here! It was so strange..."

"...Okay..."

I giggled. "Sorry," I said. "It's just... it was so confusing... I mean, we were just at the apartment building and all of a sudden I was here. It's really weird."

"Oh."

"Hey, Kairi... are you okay? I mean, with Sora leaving and all-"

Her head whipped towards me so quickly I thought it was going to fly at me. "How do you know about Sora?"

I gulped. "Uh, well... you see, I've been having these weird... _visions_... ever since I merged with you. And I... kinda... had one just as... you and Sora were... kis..." I didn't finish.

Kairi glared at me. "You mean... you mean you saw that?"

"...Yes..."

She was quiet for a moment, then she began to laugh. But the laughter died down a bit almost instantly. In the dark room, it almost looked like she was crying.

She _was _crying.

"Wha... what did I say?"

"...Right after that happened... he left. Sora left. There was this big... portal into the darkness. It sucked him up. And right before he was completely gone, he yelled to me, 'Remember my promise, Kairi. I'll come back, and we'll be together again.'" She sighed sadly. "I... I _want_ to believe him. I really do. But last time, he really was gone. And I even forgot about him for a while. He might get killed! I read the note, and it said that he might not come back alive, but he had to do it. He had to. The King told Riku to stay here and guard the island, in case Heartless or something attack. But... it's not the same."

"I know how you feel." I said softly. "And I wish I could help you cope with it. But I can't. I belong inside of you. In case the Heartless attack again. Both of our worlds need us to be strong."

"Both of our worlds? Namine, what are you -" I didn't hear the rest. I stepped forwards... and vanished.

The black swallowed me once again.

Falling through this blackness always gave me a feeling of uneasyness. I didn't belong here. Nothing belonged here. This black was evil somehow. I didn't like it.

My feet touched the ground.I quickly ran to the shining glyph and touched it, wanting to be out of this place as soon as possible. Just as before, the glyph flashed three colors, and the torrent of energy exploded from it. But this time, I didn't even try to fight it. I let it suck me under.

FLASH!

I felt whole again. Good. However, something was kind of unusual.

Something was lightly pressed against my lips.

I opened my eyes, and immediatly saw...

Roxas's?

"AAAAH!"

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Rveeiw PSLAE!

Hey, wnana konw smeoitnhg wried? Yuo cna raed tihs, cna't yuo? Loko it up to ese wyh.


	6. Realization

Yeah, yeah, I know. I haven't updated this fic, or any of my fics, for a while. But I have an excuse... again! See, at my school right now, it's almost the end of the trimester. So I have: an end-of-trimester project that I either ace, or fail Language Arts, a mean, weirdish storybook project for my evil science teacher from the Black Lagoon, a typing test for tech (which sucks because we're gonna have a cloth over our hands so that we can't see the keys), some freaky test about migration for Humanities, AND a mega jumbo problem about how many calories of pizza Americans consume every day. Oh, and just so you know, that's 18 ACRES!!!!

So if you flame me right now, you **die**.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"AAAAH!"

I jerked away from Namine as fast as I could. She sat up, wide-eyed and blushing, and stared at me. My face was burning.

"Roxas..." she began, her voice shaky. "Please explain to me what you were doing."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Ah... well, you see, I, uh... I was... performing CPR! Yeah! CPR." I grinned sheepishly, hoping Namine would accept my excuse.

She cocked an eyebrow. "CPR. Yeah. Right."

"No, really!" My mind raced as I tried to think of how I could build onto that. "You see, uh, when we were walking in the hallway, down to the apartment, you collapsed. I shook you and yelled your name, but you wouldn't wake up. So I picked you up and brought you here. And, um... a few hours passed... and you still didn't wake up. So I checked on you but you were barely breathing. So I started doing CPR. And then you woke up." I gave a nervous laugh. She was still staring at me, but now her eyes seemed softer.

"Oh... okay." Her voice made it obvious that she didn't believe me. She stood up. "Um... What time is it?"

I checked my watch, then jumped as I realized how late it was. "12:42. AM."

"Wow. Okay, then. I think I'm going to ... go to bed. Yeah. Go to bed. So please don't disturb me. Thanks." Namine went into my bedroom and closed the door.

After a few seconds it opened again. "Oh, and... goodnight, Roxas."

"Good night, Namine."

The door closed again. I stared at it for a moment, then flicked off the light and lay down on the couch.

Okay, fine. It wasn't CPR, alright? I kissed her. I didn't mean to... I was just sitting beside her, staring at her face. She really is cute. And smart. And talented. And...

After I while, I had started to feel restless. She hadn't even moved since she'd collapsed. I'd bent over her and put my hand over her mouth. Yeah, she had definitely been breathing. But when I'd been about to pull my hand away, I'd stopped.

Maybe it was the soft, smooth texture of her mouth under my hand. Maybe it was the fact I'd felt close to her ever since I'd met her. Maybe it was the way we shared a sort of invisible bond. Maybe it was the way she seemed to glow with this radiance that attracted me so that I felt like I was floating whenever I was around her. But whatever it was, I'd suddenly felt an irresistible urge to place my lips on hers.

And I'd done it.

The moment our lips made contact, her eyes had flown open, and looked straight into mine.

And then we both screamed.

Now that I think about it, I'm actually glad that I did it. I never thought that I would have enough courage to do something like that. Okay, so it was mostly acting on impulse. But still.

I rolled onto my side, and stared at the wall. I'd meaning to put a TV there or something, but never got around to buying one. My thoughts turned back to the girl behind my bedroom door.

As I pictured her face, my chest seemed to well up with this strange feeling, like when you're on a roller coaster and are at the very top of the highest slope, when you can see the drop but haven't gone down it yet. At the same time, it felt like the blood had stopped pumping through the veins in my neck. This emotion was one that I had only caught hints of before. It felt like rage, excitement, happieness, and exhileration all rolled into one.

My heart raced as I realized what this new, alien emotion was. It was what had saved Kairi's heart in Hollow Bastion. It was what had kept Sora strong when fighting Xemnas, even when it seemed he would never die. And it was what had compelled me to plant that kiss.

At that moment, I realized that, even though I had only known her for a little while, I was undeniably and unconditionally in love with Namine.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

When morning came, I was woken by a soft voice in my ear. "Roxas... wake up. Come on. Get up."

"Uwah?"

Light giggling. What a beautiful sound. I opened my eyes. Namine was kneeling next to me, her mouth by my ear. I groaned. "Aw, man... morning already?"

"What do you mean, 'already?'" she asked teasingly. "It's 10:00 AM. You've been asleep for long enough."

"No, I haven't!" I yelled equally as teasingly, throwing off the blanket that had been covering me. "I _always_ sleep until I wake up on my own!"

She laughed. "You did wake up on your own."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Well, then what were you whispering into my ear?"

"The story of Little Red Riding Hood."

We both laughed at that. I was surprised she wasn't mentioning last night's... you know...

I stood up. "Hey - I'm gonna go get changed. That alright with you?"

"What? Oh... yeah. Sure."

I stood up and went into my room. Undressing quickly, I grabbed a pair of black pants, a t-shirt, and a pullover. Pulling these clothes on, I looked out my window. People were going to work, and kids were playing in the random vacant lots. I grinned and opened my bedroom door.

An unusual feeling overcame me as I stepped out. the edges of my vision went black, and the last thing I heard before I blacked out was someone calling my name...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Running down... what? A staircase? If it was a staircase, it was really huge. A huge spiral staircase that seemed to stretch on for miles._

_"Riku!" called a voice. I couldn't see his face. It was definitely Sora._

_"Go away, Sora." said Riku, who was running ahead of Sora. I had to hurry to keep up._

_Sora let out a sigh. "Riku, you can't keep running! It'll get you nowhere!"_

_"I don't care! I'm the reincarnation of Xenahort - it's like being born from the heart of evil! How would you feel!?"_

_"Riku..."_

_"Leave me alone."_

_Sora's pace slowed, but Riku kept running. I leaned over the edge (there was no railing) and watched Riku run on._

_"Riku!" I yelled. I knew he couldn't hear me, but I yelled for him anyway. Sora's memories made me feel close to him._

_Sora stared out at him too. "Riku... why are you doing this to yourself?"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Ugh..."

"Roxas! You're awake!"

I opened my eyes to see Namine leaning over me, looking worried. "What happened? Did you have another one of those visions?"

"Yeah... Namine, Riku just found out that he's the reincarnation of Xenahort. He hates himself now."

"But just because he's the reincarnation of Xenahort doesn't mean he's not Riku anymore!"

"I know. But-"

Suddenly, a portal to the darkness opened up in the middle of the room. I jumped, and Namine gasped. "What the..."

A black robed figure stepped out of the portal. It stared at us for a long moment, then whipped out a giant scythe. I stared.

"...Marluxia?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Read and Review. Or die.

-Natsyourlord


	7. The Organization's Return

Woot. W00t. W007. \/\/007.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"...Marluxia?"

The tall man smirked. "Hmph. You remember me this time, Key of Destiny."

Roxas cringed. He seemed to be taking this rather well, considering the circumstances. Quickly summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion, he set himself into a battle position. "How did you get here?" he asked shakily.

"I am dead. Dead, because of the Keyblade Weilder. Because of _you_!" Without warning, Marluxia swung his scyth in a wide arc, nearly cleaving both me and Roxas. Just in time, he shoved me out of the way, and ducked to avoid the blow himself.

"Oh, and what's _this?"_ Marluxia had turned his attention to me. "The Memory Witch. Namine. How nice to see _you _here." His scythe sliced at me again. Luckily I had seen it coming, and had managed to duck out of the way.

"Leave her alone, Marluxia!" Roxas yelled. Jumping up, he quickly swung his keyblades in twin crescents before plunging them both at the black-robed man. He easily sidestepped, then hit Roxas in the small of his back with the handle of his weapon. Oathkeeper and Oblivion spiraling from his hands, Roxas hit the ground hard.

"Roxas!" I screamed, moving to help him. Suddenly Marluxia's scythe whistled right at me. Before I had a chance to react, I was pinned up against the wall by the blade of his weapon, my neck millimeters away from the deadly curve. "Don't move," Marluxia commanded, "Or I'll finish you." Breathing in shallow gasps, I obeyed, eyeing the sharp blade pressed against my skin.

Roxas himself was sprawled across the floor (AN: damn, I made him weak). Grunting in pain, he stood.

"You've crossed the line, Marluxia. You can hurt me; I don't care. But go after Namine, and I'll kill you!" In an instant, the white and black keyblades were back in Roxas's hands. He was trembling. From fear or rage, I couldn't tell which. "Take the scythe away from Namine. I'll fight you." Roxas was slowly coming closer to the brown-haired assassin. "Let... her... go."

Marluxia stared at Roxas for what seemed like eternity. His gaze flickered to me once, but then back to him. Finally he did something.

He began to laugh.

It was cruel, how he was laughing. You could tell that it was full of scorn and malice. His laughter seemed to ring on forever in my ears, even when it had finally stopped.

"Roxas... you have feelings for this girl, don't you?" Marluxia chuckled again, then pushed the blade of his scythe into my neck. Not enough to kill me, but enough to slice through my skin and send a small river of blood oozing down my throat. I stiffened and gasped in pain. "Well, fancy that. The Key of Destiny has fallen in love with the Memory Witch."

"Namine!" Roxas yelled. "Let her go!"

Marluxia grinned. "Not until you admit it. You have feelings for her. And they run _deep_."

Roxas gritted his teeth. "...I love... Namine." he growled. "Now stop hurting her."

"I'm sorry. What was that? I couldn't hear you." The assassin was having fun with this. _Fun._ I could hardly believe it.

"...I love Namine." Roxas said again, louder.

"I still can't hear you, Key of Destiny..."

"I LOVE NAMINE! NOW LET HER GO!" Without warning, Roxas leaped up and brought both of his keyblades down on Marluxia. I felt two things happen in the same moment.

1. The blade of Marluxia's scythe pulled away from my neck.

2. I collapsed on the floor, blood still gushing from the wound in my neck.

Everything around me was turning hazy. My head felt light. The whole room seemed to spin in front of my eyes.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was Roxas and Marluxia locked in close combat...

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_I see so many people._

_Each of them is someone who knows me._

_Do I know them?_

_They call out to me._

_I hear them, but their words are jumbled._

_Why don't they speak in a normal way?_

_So that I can understand them?_

_One of them yells in pain._

_I can't see who it is._

_Another reaches towards me._

_I can't see his face, either._

_He grabs my wrist, and pulls me away._

_I don't _want_ to go away._

_I want to stay._

_I am happy here._

_These people make me feel happy._

_Everything around me is dark... so dark..._

_**FLASH!**_

_"...Who are you?" asks a voice. I can't see her face, so I'm assuming it's Kairi._

_The figure in the Organization XIII robe is silent. It simply stares at Kairi from beneath the dark hood._

_""Well? Who are you?" Kairi asks again, louder._

_The figure pulls off their hood to reveal a head of silver hair._

_I know him._

_Zexion._

_He grins at Kairi menacingly._

_Kairi looks around anxiously, as if expecting to see someone else there. There is no one. She is alone on the beach._

_Just like when she was captured by Axel._

_Without warning, Kairi in engulfed by darkness._

_"Sora...!"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I sit up with a start. I've broken out in a cold sweat while unconscious.

Wait a minute. This isn't Roxas's apartment. And it isn't the beach either. It's a place I know all too well.

The cell. In the Castle that Never Was.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Sorry about that, I've never been too good at fight scenes.

Up next: What is the Organization's plan this time?

-Natsyourlord has no idea; she will most likely make it up in school tomorrow.


End file.
